The Price of Life
by Crystal Dragon's Lament
Summary: What is the price of life? To an assassin, its any payment their employer is willing to offer. To a anima, it is their freedom and feeling of belonging. To a girl who refuses to share her past, well, she won't tell. SenrixOC slight HuskyxNana
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Price of Life

Rating: T

Summary: What is the price of life? To an assassin, its any payment their employer is willing to offer. To a anima, it is their freedom and feeling of belonging. To a girl who refuses to share her past, well, she won't tell. SenrixOC slight HuskyxNana

A/N: Oh my god I finally finished it! It took me two days to figure out the title for this fic. God those two days sucked… but I did it! I really loved the idea for this fic. I finally bought vol. 10 of the manga and became suddenly and insanely obsessed with this series and like 5 fic ideas popped into my head. Don't know if I'll do them all but I definitely will do this one. Well, enjoy chapter one!

Edit: Just touched up the spelling and grammar a bit.

_Chapter One_

The cold winter wind bit into her without remorse. It seared her skin where it was exposed and numbed the rest of her body. White frost had formed throughout her pale grey hair and on her long eyelashes. She couldn't take a good breath because the freezing air burned her lungs as she inhaled, making her exhale again quickly. She wouldn't last much longer in this weather and since she had no way to get back to her village, she would undoubtedly die here in this frozen mountain pass.

She curled up tighter, hugging her knees closer to her chest and burying her face deeper into her arms, bracing herself for the inevitable. At least with the cold her body would just slowly shut down and she would fall asleep and cease to move. It would be an easy passing.

It was the waiting that was killing her.

Not in a hundred years would she hurry her own demise but the waiting and suffering in the cold was becoming unbearable. She was sitting with her back against an ice wall as far out of the reach of the wind as she could, which wasn't far at all.

Just as she was beginning to feel comfortable with her fate, a noise made itself heard the crushed her hopes of an easy death. She heard the pounding of paws against snow, the heavy panting of an animal in the cold air, and the chilling howl that signalled their coming; wolves.

She looked up in fear and saw the approaching pack through the blowing snow. They were coming for her. This wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to die peacefully by slowly freezing to death, not being torn apart by a pack of savage beasts! She felt panic rising in her throat as she stifled a terrified scream. She felt the cold talons of terror grip her heart, colder than anything the wind or mountains could summon, sending a chill down her spine.

They approached her slowly, heads close to the ground, sampling the air around them with their super sensitive noses. Their eyes were trained on her, waiting for her to move. She started to breath heavily, fighting down the rising panic. She was fighting a losing battle.

The lead wolf with fur as white as the snow that billowed around them and eyes as blue as the clearest morning sky walked calmly towards her.

"_This is it,"_ she thought. _"I'm going to die here. A horrible, painful death!"_

The other wolves took a few steps towards her as well.

"_I don't want to die here!"_ Her mind was screaming at her now, telling her to run, but her frozen legs would not respond. It wouldn't matter anyways. There was no way she could possibly outrun this beautiful creature of the wild.

The wolves closed in on her now, their eyes intense.

"_I don't want to die."_

The wolves suddenly stood erect, ears listening, as if they had just heard or felt something. The wind around the wolves and the girl began to move in odd patterns, patterns not caused by the wind.

"_I don't want to die!"_

Then suddenly, she felt something course through her. Something that had not been there before began to manifest itself in her being. The wolves stopped and were staring at her with bright eyes that reflected the moon now clear in the sky above.

She felt some of her physical features began to morph. Her ears changed, for one. They changed from the soft, pink flesh ears on the side of her head she was used to and turned into large, furry black ones on the top of her head. She felt her teeth begin to grow long and sharp, like fangs, and her vision suddenly changed and revealed to her the secrets of the night. Her finger nails sprouted into long claws sharper than any blade she had ever seen. Her spine grew at the base of her back, sprouting into a long black tail. Lastly, her legs changed from the knee down. Her feet changed into large paws with long claws at the end of each tow. Sleek black fur encased her legs from the knee down, completing her transformation.

She stood now before the wolves in her battered clothing, no longer as a normal human, but a wolf +anima. The wolves looked up at her with respect now and not hunger. She still felt terrified but she knew now in her heart she was safe. These wolves would not leave one of their own to starve or freeze to death in the cold.

The wolves all turned to leave. They ran for a couple of steps before they turned back to her. They expected her to follow them. They would lead her to a safe place where she could live with them and wait out the storm.

Smiling happily, she used her new legs for the first time. The speed, power, and agility they granted her was rivalled only by the wild wolves from which she had obtained her anima. Gliding gracefully over the soft snow, she took off after the wolves.

* * *

Night fell silently and swiftly over the capital city of Stella, as it always had. The city was next to lifeless. No people moved in the streets or within the palace grounds. The only stirring of life came from the guards patrolling the three towers of the castle. A soft breeze whispered through the branches of the trees in the gardens and courtyards of Stella, carrying the fresh scent of evening flowers and a refreshing respite after the heat of the day. The darkness within the city was nearly complete except for where the stars and the moon illuminated the soft ground.

In the Hall of Flowers, the old man with the anima of a rat sat beneath the portrait of Lady Marein while enjoying some sake. The Hall had changed a bit recently with the death of the former King. His portrait had been taken down and replaced with the portrait of Sailand's new young king, King Kean. While the many queens were not in fact married to the new king, they're portraits remained until such a time as the new king had many wives of his own.

In the courtyard of the palace another light pervaded the darkness of the night as several people entered. A tall, slender woman dressed in an elaborate dress of crimson and white that complimented the jewels strung around her throat walked in the centre of the group of people. Three of the female guards carried lanterns encasing small flames that illuminated the ground before them.

They walked for a ways in complete silence before they reached the ponds where she dismissed her guards. They protested momentarily but eventually left. Their mistress was not someone you wanted to cross. Especially since she was a queen.

Lady Dylana stared down at her dim reflection in the crystal clear waters for a moment. This was the place where she had finally secured her son's position as the future king. All it had taken was a simple push and her son's future was set. And then he had returned.

Two years ago, while the former king was still alive, Myrrha, the boy she thought she had drowned, had returned to Sailand. With his arrival her son's position as heir to the throne was in jeopardy. Myrrha and his mother Marein had always been the favourites of the king. If he was back then he would be the new heir to the throne.

Her fears, however, had been unfounded. As suddenly as he had appeared, Myrrha was gone. He had not been seen since. Two years had passed and Kean was now king. It no longer mattered if Myrrha returned or not. She had won.

For now, at least.

There was still more that could be done, so much more. She had barely begun to think on the possibilities when her thoughts were interrupted by a female voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"You summoned me, Lady?"

Lady Dylana's heart almost skipped a beat. She had not heard the other person approach at all. After she had dismissed her guards, she had thought she was alone. Now she wasn't so sure. There was no telling how long the other woman had been there.

She turned towards the sound of the voice behind her. Through the deep shadows of the night Lady Dylana could not make out the figure of the other person. All that was visible of her was her slightly luminescent eyes that seemed oddly lupine.

Quickly composing herself, Lady Dylana addressed the young woman before her. "That depends," she said quietly, just loud enough to be heard. "Are you the assassin known as the Claws of Night?"

"I am," she replied. Her voice was flat, toneless, almost as if the one who possessed it held no emotions. It was somewhat disconcerting.

"I wish to acquire your services." She placed a slight emphasis on the word 'services'.

"Obviously," was her only response.

Lady Dylana's cheeks began to burn with the insult the assassin had just thrown her way. You should never insult a queen or imply that she was making some form of mistake. She fought down the retort that began to rise in her throat. For now she would just have to put up with the insults of the assassin. She would see that she was dealt with later.

"Yes. I hope you have no qualms about your targets." It would mean trouble if she did. If she was unwilling to carry this out assignment, then she was a liability. She would know too much and would have to be silenced.

"My allegiance lies neither here nor there. I am my own governor and as long as the pay is good, I care not who my target may be."

No one held her allegiance. Lady Dylana thought on this for a moment. If no one held her in check, then she could be dangerous. She could turn on her at any moment. She sighed aloud to herself. It was a risk she would have to take. She needed someone skilled for this job and she was rumoured to be the best in the art of death.

"Fine," Lady Dylana said finally. "As you know, my son Kean is now King of Sailand." Her face twisted into a cunning smile. "However, there is more than just Sailand available to rule."

The assassin seemed to catch on then. "You'll need more than just the King dead you know."

"I know that!" she snapped. Lady Dylana did not appreciate being looked down upon. Many of the other queens did so because of her heritage. However, now that her son was King, things had changed drastically, but the feeling remained

She calmed herself again before continuing. "Of course there is the King to attend to, as well as his son and any other heirs to the throne. Having his queen gone would be helpful too. Also the commander of the military. What's his name? Oh, right. Igneous." The queen paused for a minute.

"Is there more?" the assassin asked.

"Yes," she replied. "There is one last person. Prince Myrrha." She spat out the name venomously, as if it would poison her if she held it too long.

"And my payment?" she asked without batting an eye and who she had been asked to kill.

Lady Dylana withdrew a pouch from her robes and tossed it to the assassin. She heard her catch the pouch smoothly but could not see it due to the shadows that enshrouded her.

"You will find enough gillers in there to feed a village for a week." She heard the pouch opening and the money inside being shuffled around. Obviously the assassin was checking her spoils. "You will get the rest when you have completed your job."

"I take my leave then." The lights of her eyes blinked out and Lady Dylana was left alone again. A small wicked grin creased her thin lips as she turned back to the tower. Yes, so much to do.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow. I wrote this whole thing in one day. That's got to be a record for me. Make that two records. Fastest update without having the chapter pre-written. I'm gooooood. (friends all turn away) Ouch. Oh well. Oh, and for the last chapter, there should have been a break between where the girl runs off with the wolves and where it switches to Stella. The original break I had in there didn't stay when I uploaded it but I didn't check. Stupid fanfiction…oh well. R&R!

_Chapter Two_

Two years had passed since Cooro, Husky, Senri and Nana had settled down at Mr. Harden's dwelling. He and his wife Margaret, a former +anima, had taken care of them earlier during their journey when the army had taken a disliking to them. When their journey was finished, they returned to live their in peace. They chose to live there because they felt at peace with Mr. Harden and his wife. They were tolerant of both +anima and children, not to mention the kim-un-kur. The commander of the Astarian army, Igneous, had a big problem with the kim-un-kur. Needles to say he didn't get along with Senri.

However, after two years, they had become bored with the quiet life. It was time for them to travel again. They had no destination in mind and they had no purpose either. They just felt like traveling again.

They had been traveling together again for a while now. They were now in Stella, traveling around. They had to keep themselves relatively hidden because of the slave situation there. If anybody found out they hadn't been claimed by someone, they would be taken and sold in the slave market. They had thought of making a quick stop in Stella to see Husky's mother but decided against it, remembering what had happened last time.

Next they thought of paying Crystala a visit, but no one had seen her in over a year. She had disappeared around the same time the king, her twin brother, had died. They had journeyed to her plantation and met up with Kazana again. He hadn't seen Crystala in a while either. They had tried to convince him to come with them. The king was dead after all now so he didn't have to pretend to be dead anymore. He had refused. Apparently he had lost his anima while working there. He had stayed on though to help the other +anima working their. It was fulfilling work he had said.

Now they were just wandering around. Cooro was his usual goofy self, Nana was getting more and more nagging, Husky still carried his 'Cooro Punishment Stick' and Senri was…Senri. They were doing nothing but enjoying each others company and the adventure of traveling again. They didn't anticipate any danger or real excitement this time around.

Then again, statements like that usually come back around to bite you in the ass.

They were in a forest now and evening was approaching. They were no where near a town or village so they had to find some place to spend the night in the forest. They hoped to find nice cave to spend the night in, some place out of the wind. If that failed, then they would improvise.

"I don't know why you guys are so against sleeping in the open," Cooro said. He was walking in front of the other three with his hands behind his head. He kicked his feet out as he walked, taking his time and enjoying the scenery.

"You know why!" Husky snapped back. He hadn't improved his temper in the past two years. If anything, it had become shorter. "One, there's going to be rain tonight. Two, it's still not good for Nana's nerves to be out in the forest at night." Nana smiled sheepishly. Despite his claiming that he hated girls he had always looked out for her. Behind her, Senri just nodded his agreement.

"Okay then!" Cooro was still as agreeable as ever. Living with Mr. Harden and what happened two years ago had done nothing to dampen his spirits.

Behind them Senri suddenly stopped and turned a ways to the right. The others stopped and turned to face him. "What is it Senri?" Nana asked.

He reached out one arm and pointed in front of him. "Cave."

The others turned to look. Nana sighed in relief when she saw the cave. She didn't fancy a night out in the open.

Cooro just ran for the cave mouth. "Yay!" Husky caught up with him before he could enter the cave. He stopped him with a nice hit to the head with his staff.

"Wait a minute you dimwit!" he scolded Cooro. "We need to check to make sure nothing's in that cave first!"

"Oh, right." Cooro stopped and let the others go first. Husky rolled his eyes as he walked past, holding his staff at the ready. Senri walked forward as well, his bear arm anima already activated. Nana walked in the rear with Cooro. She had her bat ears out to listen for anything. Cooro had his wings activated, mostly for the hell of it. He had never been ashamed or embarrassed about being a +anima like some others had.

They entered the cave cautiously, looking and listening for any signs of danger. There were plenty of wild animals that would stay in caves like this one. They looked around the dimly lit cave and found nothing. Nana didn't hear anything either.

Husky relaxed his stance and lowered his staff. Senri deactivated his anima and stood so did Nana. Cooro decided to as well, keeping with his friends examples. They all relaxed at bit, thinking they were safe.

"Looks like this place will do perfectly," Nana said with a smile.

Of course, that's when they were attacked. Out of a corner of the cave they thought they had cleared darted a figure, too fast for them to make out. It went straight for Husky, aiming its foot at his head. Senri blocked though, his bear arm catching the foot in mid air.

The person twisted their body around, wrenching their foot out of Senri's grasp. They landed on the ground on all fours and dashed for Husky again. He was ready for them this time though. He had his staff at the ready now. Their fist struck the side of the raised staff while their foot swept around to knock the staff out of his grasp. Disarmed, Husky backed up a step.

It was Senri's turn to attack now. He lunged at her, his claws outstretched and reaching for her neck. They dodged under his claws and went for his stomach. Husky had recovered his staff and intercepted their blow. Senri stumbled backwards before attacking again.

During the whole fight Nana and Cooro stood in the back. Nana didn't like fighting and Cooro, even with his hand axe, wasn't much of a fighter either.

Finally Nana had had enough. Her wings and ears popping out, she screamed at the fighters. "ENOUGH!"

Husky and Senri dashed backwards and stood still in a defensive position. Their attacker dashed backwards as well and stopped. They were finally able to get a good look at their attacker.

Their attacker was a girl about seventeen years of age. Her hair was silverfish grey shot through with black and white. Her bangs were parted to the side that reached her chin. Most of her hair was long and loose, reaching her mid back but some of it was up in a half tail. This part of her hair was shorter and reached her shoulder blades. Her outfit looked almost tribal and she wore a necklace and anklet of beads and feathers. Her eyes were a very striking blue.

She stood with her feet planted firmly on the ground, shoulder width apart. Her hands were flat on the ground directly in front of her with her fingers spread wide. She was bent over with her back straight, staring straight ahead, looking at them intently.

"It's a girl?" Husky burst out. He didn't like girls in general so being attacked by one didn't sit too well with him.

"You got a problem with that?" she spat. That remark only seemed to anger her more.

Cooro walked forwards with his wings out. He walked almost right up to the girl. She tensed and almost seemed to growl at him.

"What's your name?" he asked simply.

Husky, Nana and the girl almost fell over. That's all he had to say? She had just attacked them and he was asking what her name was. Well, that was Cooro for you.

She looked up at him for a moment before responding. "Why do you ask?"

Cooro smiled at her and extended his hand. "I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said. "I'm Cooro. These are my friends Husky, Senri and Nana." He pointed at each of them in turn.

"The wrong foot?" Husky was almost livid. "We didn't get off on the wrong foot. She attacked us!"

After a moment the girl straightened and looked at the others. "I agree. I do believe we got off on the wrong foot." She extended her hand to Cooro for a friendly hand shake. "My name is Kiyrely Mykail. If you would allow my, I would like to explain."

They had sat down in the middle of the cave. It was becoming dark outside now, even more so because of the storm that was rolling in, so they decided to light a fire.

Kiyrely started to explain after everyone had settled down. "I am truly sorry about what happened. You see, when I heard you entering the cave, I thought you were going to attack me." She smiled sheepishly at them.

"You thought we were going to attack you?" Nana asked.

"Yeah. My nerves sometimes get the better of me."

"I see."

"Oh," Cooro said. "Well that's okay then." Husky shot him a nasty look. He didn't trust this Kiyrely very much. She seemed to notice this and looked down at her feet.

"Um, do you mind if I stay in this cave tonight as well?" Kiyrely asked. She had been there first after all but she wasn't going to say that to them.

"Sure!" Nana agreed readily. She was the only girl traveling with a group of boys so she would enjoy having another girl around. Cooro agreed readily and Senri sat down in quiet complicity. Husky, however, was not so quiet.

"No," he said right away. He didn't like the idea of having another girl spend the night with them.

"Yes, she can," Nana stated firmly. She gave Husky a cold glare and he finally submitted.

"Fine," he conceded.

"Yay!" Cooro shouted his elation. Cue Husky's Cooro Punishing Stick.

"Thank you." She said happily. She didn't fancy the idea of staying out in the rain for a night.

"So where are you headed?" Nana asked. She wanted to get to know this girl a bit before she left in the morning.

"Astar," she replied. "I've heard some nice things about the city so I thought I would go and check it out."

"Whatever," Husky mumbled under his breath. Nana elbowed him in the side to silence him. Senri just sat and listened, as usual.

They sat in silence for a few moments before the silence was finally broken.

"Hey!" Cooro piped up suddenly. Everyone looked over at him to see what his idea was. For all they knew his bright idea was that they should go running in the rain or something stupid like that.

"Why don't you come with us?" he asked. Husky's reaction this time was quicker coming then the last.

"Absolutely not!" He sounded dead set in his decision.

"Why not?" Cooro asked innocently.

"Because she's a girl!" He said it like that should be enough reason.

"Thanks for noticing," Kiyrely said bluntly.

"Aren't you over that yet Husky?" Nana asked.

"No I'm not," he replied. "I'm not having another girl come with us."

"But Husky," Cooro whined. "We're going to Astar too. Why can't she come?"

"I told you!" Husky seemed quite frustrated now. "I'm not having another girl join our group." With that, he turned away.

Nana shuffled up behind him. "Husky," she said firmly. He seemed to tense up at her voice. "She's going to come with us and you are going to be fine with it. Got it?" Her voice was very firm and demanding. She was twelve now and she was going to get her way.

Husky turned to her after a moment to meet her cold stare. He turned to Senri to ask his opinion.

"What do you think Senri? Should we let her come?" He was counting on Senri backing him up. For the most part he didn't seem to like new people and she had attacked them after all. He never took kindly to people attacking his friends.

"She can come," he said simply. Husky felt like pounding his fist into his face.

"Fine," he grumbled. "She can come."

"Yay!" Nana seemed very excited by this. She would finally get to hang out with another girl, even if she was a bit older than her. Nana turned to Kiyrely. "I'm so happy now!"

Kiyrely brushed at her bangs absently. "I'm sorry Nana," she said. "But I don't think I will go with you guys. Thanks for the offer though."

Nana looked crushed. "Why?"

"Well I kind of like to travel alone," she replied.

"But it's not safe to travel alone for one." Nana was starting to get desperate. She really wanted Kiyrely to come with them.

"I don't know." She sounded rather unsure.

"Please?" It was Cooro asking this time.

"Well…" She hesitated for a few moments. "Fine," she said finally. "I'll go."

"Yay!" Nana's former elation returned in full force.

"I'm going to bed," Husky grumbled.

"Don't worry about him. He's just a bit of a grump," Nana assured her.

"Okay then." Kiyrely nodded to Nana. She turned to the mouth of the cave to try and see where the moon and the stars lay, but they were covered by large storm clouds.

"Well I think it's time for all of us to call it a night." She walked to the back of the cave to grab her bags. The other three readied their things as well.

"I'm glad you're coming with us," Nana said happily.

"I know." Walking to the centre of the cave Kiyrely doused the fire, plunging the cave once again into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well I caved and got a beta...well if you can call her that. More like some chick I beat into doing my work for me (just kidding Am, don't hurt me!) and I'm shocked at how fast I'm writing this...probably cuz I got my friend hooked on this series and she'll shoot me if I don't write ^_^'

_Chapter Three_

Morning came slowly to the forest of Sailand, still shrouded in the hazy clouds of the storm. The heavy rain and wind had passed and now it was just drizzling with a fine fog in the air. Dew hung heavy on the long grass and the tall trees of the forest. Few birds were out singing. Most were still in their nests, taking shelter from the bad weather.

Cooro emerged from the cave, stretching and yawning. He didn't seem to mind the slight rain and the fog. The other four emerged out of the cave slowly after him. Kiyrely hung back slightly, still unsure of the other's feelings towards her. Cooro and Nana, especially Nana, didn't seem to mind her. Husky had made his objections clearly know, but Senri hadn't said much of anything. She would like to think it wasn't her. Perhaps that was just the way he was. That's what she hoped at least.

From up ahead everyone heard Cooro's stomach growl loudly. Because of last night's excitement they hadn't actually had much of a chance to eat. Cooro twirled around to face Husky. He didn't say anything. He just stood there beaming at Husky with another of his stupid grin on his face.

"Fine," Husky sighed finally. He turned around and started walking while he continued to talk. "I think I saw a lake not too far from here."

Everyone started to follow him towards the supposed lake. Kiyrely caught up to Nana to ask her a question or two. "What is he doing?" she asked. It seemed obvious to the others but what had just conspired escaped her entirely.

"Husky's going fishing to catch us something to eat," she replied.

"But why does he have to do it?"

Nana smiled knowingly. "You'll see."

Kiyrely let it go at that. Senri had been a +anima and she was pretty sure she saw wings sprouting from Cooro's back so for all she knew Husky was a +anima as well. Perhaps he was a fish +anima or something like that. It would explain why they expected him to do the fishing.

When they reached the rain-swollen lake her suspicions were proven. Cooro and Senri looked around for some wood to use for a fire; the rain had been gone from here for a while now so it was pretty much dry. Nana sat down on the grass, motioning for Kiyrely to join her and Husky proceeded to the lake edge.

Husky shed everything except his skin tight pants and shirt before diving into the water. In mid air though, he activated his anima. The scales of a fish descended down his body from the makings on his neck. His legs bound together in a fish tail of bright silver scales. He hit the water and dove beneath the surface with barely a splash.

"Husky is a fish +anima," Nana said suddenly. Kiyrely turned towards her. "All four of us are +anima. Husky is a fish, Cooro is a crow, Senri is a bear and I'm a bat." Kiyrely already knew about Senri and she had just found out about Husky. The other two she hadn't know about however.

"I used to be ashamed of being a +anima," Nana continued. "I would never show people my markings and I wouldn't bring out my wings or ears while others were around." Her face now bore a sad smile. As she continued her story however, her face began to brighten. "After traveling with Cooro, Husky and Senri though, my perspective on things began to change. I realized I didn't have to be ashamed of being a +anima. It was what makes me who I am."

Nana now turned to Kiyrely. "What about you?" she asked. "What do you think about +anima?"

Kiyrely didn't say anything at first. She just looked straight ahead out across the lake. Behind them Senri and Cooro returned with wood for the fire. Kiyrely stood up and turned around. "I'll go help them start the fire."

A sinking feeling began to well up inside Nana. Perhaps Kiyrely didn't like +anima. Well, she had seen Senri's anima and she had still decided to join them so that couldn't be the reason. Maybe it was something else she had said. Nana hoped she hadn't said anything to offend her.

Kiyrely walked over to Senri and Cooro without another word. Cooro greeted her happily. "Hi Kiyrely!" he called. She smiled and raised a hand in response. Busily she began to help them build the fire pit with stones and set the wood while Husky continued to fish. Nana sat quietly brooding.

Once the wood for the fire had been set all that needed to be done was light the fire. Kiyrely was just about to ask how they were going to do that when Cooro reached behind him and grabbed his small hand axe. He picked up a stone and struck the two together, creating a shower of sparks. After a few tries they had success. The sparks set fire to the dried grass and small branches they had set down as a base. It wasn't long before they had a nice raging fire.

Husky was done his fishing shortly afterwards. Nana joined them as they set the fish to the fire to cook. After a moment or two of silence Cooro couldn't bear it any longer. He had never been one for silence unless he was sleeping or eating.

"So, Kiyrely, how old are you?" he asked. None of them really knew much about Kiyrely. She had only joined them last night and they didn't have much time for chit chat before they retired for the evening.

For a moment it didn't appear that Kiyrely would answer, but she eventually did. "I'm eighteen," she replied. That seemed to be the trigger to the floodgate. Cooro and Nana started rifling off questions left, right and centre. Husky watched the fish sizzle in a moody silence while Senri sat and watched the other three.

Just when Kiyrely thought she couldn't take anymore of Cooro's and Nana's questions, Husky cut in.

"The fish are done." Kiyrely sighed in relief. Saved by the bell. She reached over to grab a fish but Senri intercepted her. He grabbed all of the fish, took out his spices and seasonings from his pouch, and flavoured the fish. When he had finished he held one out to Kiyrely.

She reached for it hesitantly. She had never had seasoned fish before so she did not know what to expect. She need not have worried though. After her first bite, she fell in love. It was positively the best delicacy that had ever submitted itself to her senses.

The others ate their fish quickly while Kiyrely slowly savored her delicious meal. She hoped to dear god they would be having some fish again soon. When they were all finished their food they doused the fire and prepared to set off again.

"Do you travel a lot Kiyrely?" Nana looked up at her with curiosity pasted all over her pretty young face.

"Yeah." That was all she had to say. Nana waited for a moment more. She had been hoping for a more detailed answer but she wouldn't push her just now. Maybe when they knew her a little more.

The rest of their travels for that day passed in relative silence, besides the bickering of Cooro and Husky. Nana interrupted every now and then, telling them to behave. Kiyrely for the most part kept to herself. Nana would ask her a question about herself every now and then but she managed to evade them, usually by asking Nana something about herself.

During one such conversation though, the evasion failed. Probably because it wasn't Nana or Cooro who was asking the question. "Where are you from?" Husky looked at her coolly as he asked the question. His features were very feminine she noticed. He looked somewhat familiar to her but she brushed that off. She had seen many people in her travels.

"What about you?" she asked. "It's only polite to answer your own question."

"Nice try," he shot back. "I want an answer. You've been evading Cooro and Nana."

"_Quick kid,"_ she thought. "I'm from southern Astaria. I lived in a small village."

Husky watched her for a moment more then let it drop. He couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not but it seemed true enough. Her hair colour along with the beads she wore suggested differently though. Her hair was a light grey with black and white in it. It kind of reminded him of the Kim-un-kur. Her eyes were different though. They were a very startling blue, clearer than the clearest summer day and brighter than any gem he had seen.

It was just after mid-day when they reached the village. It was a small quaint little place that seemed to have a pleasant atmosphere. The first order of business though would be to find a place to stay for the night. Actually, the real first order of business would be to see if they had the means to stay somewhere for the night.

"How much money do we have Husky?" Cooro asked. Husky had always been in charge of the money, though he did spend it on occasional jewelry splurges though. He claimed it was his money and he could do with it what he wanted.

"It's my money. If you want to stay someplace tonight then you'll have to spend your own money." He was very selfish when it came to his money.

"Husky," Nana said sternly. Everyone stopped when Nana did. She regarded Husky coolly until he finally gave in.

"Fine," he mumbled. It was becoming harder and harder for him to say no to her. Nana smiled at him happily.

"Thank you Husky!" Nana was all smiles and giggles now. She finally got to sleep in a bed again!

They walked around the town for a while to look for some place to stay for a while. They would probably end up staying here for a few days. This news didn't seem to please Kiyrely. As soon as they had neared the village she had become edgy.

"What's wrong?" Cooro asked eventually.

She looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?"

"You've been on edge since we got here."

"No I haven't." Her reply came rather quickly.

"Okay then." Cooro picked up his pace slightly to join the others.

Kiyrely found it rather odd that he let it drop that quickly, but she supposed that was his personality. He seemed like that kind of person.

The town was rather peaceful as they walked through it. The people looked nice, and it was quiet. Nobody was brawling in the streets. Or at least, there hadn't been anyone brawling in the streets, and it had been quiet.

Just before they reached a corner they heard yelling and fighting.

"Get back here you little brat!" one man called.

"You listening in on us you little sneak?" There was another man with the first.

"Ouch! Hey!" This third voice unmistakable belonged to a younger girl. After the girls remark the sounds of a fight floated quickly to their ears. They rushed around the corner to see what was going on.

What they saw shocked them. A young girl no more than twelve was under attack by several grown men. Actually, she seemed to be fighting back quite well for some one her age, but she was still doing poorly. When Kiyrely saw what was happening she froze momentarily before dashing into the fray.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Fourth chappie time! It would have been out faster but my stoopid beta was being too slow so I ended up just doing it myself, so sorry if I missed anything. Don't know what it is but I can't exactly edit my own work. Not properly at least. I have no problem with other people's work, just my own. Huh… Oh well. Onwards!

_Chapter Four_

With incredible speed, Kiyrely ran forwards to join the fight. On the way, she whipped out two concealed knives from the split in her skirt, holding them at the ready. The men attacking the younger girl didn't notice her presence until it was too late.

One of the men turned slowly towards Kiyrely as she approached. She lunged for him with her knives held before her and drew one across his left bicep, rendering his arm near useless and painting the blade dark red. He fell back with a scream of agony, drawing the attention of the second man.

"What the—" He did not get the chance to finish his sentence. Kiyrely was already there with her knives aimed for the man's midsection. He tried to back away but his attempt at escape was useless; Kiyrely was in the heat of battle and she wasn't about to let her opponent escape her grasp.

Tossing the knife in her right hand up she caught it in a backwards grip with the blade pointing down her arm. With her knife held in this manner, she brought it up in a diagonal across the second man's chest. She didn't drive the blade deep enough to kill him but he definitely felt it. The cloth of his shirt was quickly stained red as he stumbled back, grunting in shocked pain.

Hoping the second man occupied Kiyrely sufficiently the first man attempted to rise and make his getaway. He had no such luck. Kiyrely noticed as soon as he moved and sent a roundhouse kick to his head, her heal connecting with his temple. He crumpled under the blow and lay still on the ground. If he was dead or not she didn't know or really care. What concerned her now was the second man she had been fighting.

As she returned her attention to him, he came out swinging. His right arm was pulled back until he flung it in her general direction. Despite the obvious power behind the punch Kiyrely did not panic. She simply ducked down in a defensive position and, using the man's own power against him, deflected his punch with a slight tap of her own arm and sent him off balance. As the man stumble forwards she twisted behind him and, using the hilt of a knife, hit the space between the base of his skull and his spinal cord, knocking him out flat.

With both men knocked out, the fight was over. The only combatants that remained were Kiyrely and the girl, though she had stopped fighting when Kiyrely showed up. A crowd had gathered around the spectacle. What had taken place was something out of the ordinary, which never usually happened in their small village. No one had really expected Kiyrely to win either. She was only eighteen, though technically an adult she was still developing in the physical strength department, and she had taken on two fully grown men and still kicked their asses. Then again she had been armed and they hadn't, but many people decided they had it coming. They had been picking on a young girl after all.

Speaking of the young girl, she now stared at Kiyrely in awe. Just when she was opening her mouth to speak to her savior, Kiyrely turned on her.

"And you!" Kiyrely pointed at the young girl angrily. Her voice was furious. "What on earth were you doing?! You don't go picking a fight with two grown men you little idiot!" People gathered around were now thrown for a bit of a loop. Hadn't Kiyrely just jumped in to save her? Why was she yelling at her like this then? It didn't make much sense to them. The young girl shrank back for a moment before setting her jaw and raising her gaze to meet Kiyrely's.

"I was just—"

"I don't care what you were doing!" Kiyrely cut her off before she could continue. Now she grabbed the young girl by her ear and hauled her up closer.

"Hey, ow! What are you doing?" the young girl whined at the pain.

"If you've got any brains in that head of yours I suggest you use them. And stop being such a smartass! After this, if you get yourself killed, it won't be my problem!" Kiyrely seemed to be finished her angry rant. "Now where are you staying?" Her tone had softened a little but not by much. It was still firm and somewhat harsh. Really the only difference was the volume.

"Over there." She pointed to an Inn not too far from them while still trying to release her ear from Kiyrely's grasp at the same time. With that, Kiyrely proceeded to drag the young girl by her ear in the direction of the Inn.

Cooro and the others, forgotten in a corner, stared after her in amazement. For one, they had no idea she could fight like that. As well they had no idea she could be so harsh. They watched her for a moment before someone broke the silence. Amazingly enough, it was Senri. "Should we follow?"

Husky, Nana and Cooro snapped out of their trance and looked up at Senri for a moment. "Uhhh, yeah, I guess," Cooro replied hesitantly. All of them were curious so they followed her to the Inn the young girl had pointed out.

Up ahead, Kiyrely continued in through the door and began to make her way upstairs to the rooms. The Inn Keeper tried to talk to her but she just stormed past him. When Cooro and the others entered the Inn they approached the somewhat stunned Inn Keeper.

"Did you see a girl with silver-ish grey hair pass through here with a young girl with light brown hair?" Nana asked.

"As a matter of fact I did." He didn't sound overly happy. "She just stormed right past me up to the rooms without paying for one!"

"We're visiting the young girl she was with," Husky replied. "For now we won't be staying the night but if we do we will come and pay of course." The Inn Keeper seemed satisfied with Husky's statement.

"Which room is she in?" Cooro asked.

"Room number five."

"Thank you." Cooro smiled as he turned towards the stairs with the others following close behind.

As they walked up the stairs Nana couldn't help but wonder if Kiyrely knew the young brown haired girl or not. It seemed a bit strange to berate a total stranger like that out in public and then drag them off but you never knew. Some people were just weird.

When they finally reached room number five they were unsure weather to knock or just enter. They decided on a combination of both. They knocked on the door before letting themselves in.

Kiyrely was sitting in the in a corner of the room with the young girl in her lap. She was holding her arm close to her face inspecting the wound there. "We'll I'll just have to pay them a visit then won't I?" She then proceeded to lick the wound.

It took several minutes for either of them to realize that they were no longer alone in the room. Nana and Husky were staring a Kiyrely quite oddly while Cooro regarded with a similar look for only a moment before he was fine with it. Senri didn't mind either way. He had a habit of doing the same thing.

The young girl sitting in Kiyrely's lap looked up at the others who had just entered the room. Kiyrely noticed the others finally as well. She stood up immediately, slightly startled by their sudden appearance. Since the other girl was still sitting in her lap she was dumped on the ground as Kiyrely stood.

"Oh! Guys, I'm sorry I just left like that. I got a little… sidetracked." She looked at them a little nervously. "Sorry."

The girl, still on the ground, was rubbing her head while looking up at Kiyrely indignantly. "That wasn't nice Kiy!" she said. "How 'bout a bit of warning next time?"

"Oh be quite you stupid kid!" Kiyrely snapped back. "If I wasn't always looking over your shoulder I swear you'd get your head lopped off!" She turned back to the others. "Sorry again. This is Mehri."

With a loud 'humph', Mehri walked over to the bed and sat down in a huff. Cooro and the others looked at her for a moment before they turned back to Kiyrely.

"Is that your sister?" Nana asked.

Mehri piped up before Kiyrely could reply. "Not really. Kiy raised me for the last six years, since I was six." She still had an edge to her voice.

"You raised her?" Cooro looked somewhat amazed.

"Kinda," she replied hesitantly. "I found her when she was six without a family. I decided to take her in. And she has brought me nothing but trouble ever since." She shot Mehri a menacing glare at the last part. As a response she stuck her tongue out at her.

"That's cool!" Cooro was oddly amazed by this. Kiyrely looked at him with slight confusion. He was very easily amused. She guessed that was just the way he was.

Nana stood in restrained silence. She couldn't believe it. Another girl her age! She hadn't spent time with any other girls her age since before Cooro and Husky came along. At that time she was with Delly and the other girls in Octopus, but they had driven her away because she was a +anima. She didn't think it would be the same with Mehri however. Kiyrely had accepted her and since Mehri had been raised by her, perhaps she would feel the same way. It would be so good to spend time with another girl her age again.

"Will she be coming with us?" she asked anxiously. Two replies, both different, were quick in following.

"No!" Husky practically yelled.

"Yes!" The volume of Mehri's voice nearly matched Husky's.

Nana turned to Husky and looked at him imploringly. "Please, Husky. I really want her to come with us." Nana put on the most pathetic and sad face she could muster.

Husky could only stand that face for a mere moment or two. Finally he turned away, his face slightly flushed. "Fine," he grumbled.

Everyone suppressed a little giggle, even Senri. It was next to impossible for him to say no to her anymore. They would have to tease him for it later.

Now it was time for Nana to work on the others, not that it would require much work at all. She asked Cooro and Senri now. "What do you guys think?"

"Sounds like fun!" Cooro was all for it.

Senri remained silent but nodded his consent.

Mehri decided to try her hand at convincing Kiyrely to let her join them. "C'mon Kiy!" she said. "I was supposed to come back to you after I was finished her anyways."

Kiyrely sighed, and then nodded. "That is true," she admitted. "Well if it's fine with you guys, I have no qualms about her traveling with us."

Both Nana and Mehri were overjoyed by Kiyrely's answer. Mehri jumped off the bed, over her grump quite quickly, and landed nimbly in front of Nana. She grabbed Nana's hands and clasped them in front of her. "Yay! I finally get to spend time with someone who isn't a grump!" Kiyrely's eye twitched at that comment.

Nana was equally happy. "And I get to spend time with another girl my age!" The two girls stood together giggling and discussing their plans on what they were going to do with their time together. In the mean time, Kiyrely turned to the boys with an apologetic smile.

"I hope you guys don't mind that she's with us now."

Senri shook his head, indicating that it was no problem. Husky was still looking off to the side, his arms crossed, looking annoyed. His face, however, still held a slight flush.

"It's no problem," Cooro replied. "The more the merrier right?" Senri nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, right," Kiyrely mumbled, also looking over at her charge. Well, she had intended to find Mehri soon anyways, and having her travel with her and the others wouldn't be too bad. Mehri was the closest thing Kiyrely had to a family anyways.

Husky, finally over his brush with his hormones, decided to change the subject, if only slightly. "When we came in you said something to that girl about going to see someone tonight." It was a statement of fact but there was no missing the question within it. Mehri also heard what Husky had said, as had Nana. The two girls stopped their giggling and looked over at Husky

"Nothing special," Kiyrely replied with a smile. "Just some friends of Mehri's that are apparently in town so we decided that we would pay them a visit tonight."

"Could we come?" Nana asked politely.

"Actually I think they would prefer that you not, I'm sad to say," Kiyrely replied.

"Huh? Awwwww, why not?" Cooro asked rather pathetically.

"They're rather shy people." It was Mehri who answered this time. "They don't take too well to people they haven't met yet. Plus we haven't seen them in a while so it would be nice to see them alone."

"I guess that's understandable," Husky replied. "We wouldn't want to show up unwanted."

_Huh,_ thought Kiyrely. _Who knew Husky could be the understanding type. _"Looks like we won't be going tonight anyways."

"Eh?" Mehri sounded very confused. "Why not?"

"Look outside stupid." She gestured to the window, showing the quickly darkening sky beyond. Night had already caught up with them.

"Oh," she said sadly.

"I guess we should be finding ourselves a room then," said Husky.

"Agreed," Cooro chirped. "Us four will share a room; you can stay here with Mehri. That is, if you want to," Cooro added the last part franticly. He didn't want to sound like he was making her do anything.

"Sounds good to me," Kiyrely replied.

"It's unfortunate we couldn't meet your friends Mehri, and you too Kiyrely." Nana sounded somewhat disappointed but made up for it by flashing a sweet smile. "Perhaps we may be able to see them some other time."

"Perhaps," Kiyrely replied, though she had her doubts.

"We'll be going now." Husky turned towards the door and left, followed closely by Nana and Cooro. Senri was the last to leave. He glanced back at Kiyrely briefly before making his exit and closing the door behind him. Kiyrely watched him leave and continued to look at the door for a moment after he left.

"Hey, earth to Kiy, come in Kiy!" Mehri's voice cut sharply into Kiyrely's thoughts.

"Eh?" She snapped out of her daze to see Mehri standing beside her with a smirk on her face. "What's with you?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," she replied smugly. "It's just that I've never seen you act like that around someone before."

"Whatever kid." Kiyrely walked past her to where Mehri's, and now her own, belongings lay. She began fishing out something from the luggage. "Now let's get ready for bed."

xxx

The moon rode high in the sky, obstructed occasionally by an evening cloud. The village was silent, all of its occupants already tucked into their beds for the night. Outside, nothing stirred except a young raccoon walking down the streets prowling for leftover scraps to devour. Out of the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw something move in the shadows of a building. He froze in place and inspected the shadows, terrified that it might actually be a human. After a moment of worrying though, his thoughts proved unfounded. Nothing stirred in the shadows. He was alone this evening.

Unknown to the young night creature as he continued on his way a shadow detached itself from a building and leapt onto the roof. Dashing along from roof top to roof top they headed for the far side of town. When they finally reached the building they had been looking for, an old rundown tavern, they jumped in through an open window and landed silently on the wooden floor.

On silent paws they padded through the halls to a certain door. They didn't bother testing the handle; they knew it would be locked. That was, after all, the point of having doors. Using their claws they picked the lock and let the door swing silently open.

Within the room two men sat at a table against the wall by a tightly shuttered window. It was the two men that Kiyrely had beaten earlier that same day. Both wore bandages wrapped around their wounds and both sulked at the table, mulling over what they would do to the girls if they caught them again.

At the sound of the door opening supposedly of its own accord both men jumped up and faced the door. Nothing stood in the empty doorway but the two men were not ready to relax yet. They had locked the door and there was no way it could just open on its own.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

Both men let out a startled yelp as they whirled around to face the intruder. In the process of turning around they also tried to back away, which turned out to not be one of their best ideas of the day. Both fell onto their backsides and attempted to shuffle away. For all of their tough talk they were, for the most part, cowards. They did, however, have enough guts to attempt to hire the Claws of Night.

She sat on the windowsill looking at the two men, a smirk creasing her mask. These men were fools, but if they had money and a job then who was she to say no. "I heard from one of my associates that you were enquiring after my services today."

One of the men, the one who had been slashed across the chest, stared up at her in fear and wonder. "Y-you're her, aren't you."

"Yes, I am the Claws of Night," she replied smoothly.

"B-but you're a wolf p-p-p-+anima!" the other man stammered.

_What acute observational skills you have,_ she though sarcastically. "Really? Now how did you figure that one out? It couldn't have been the ears, the tail, the legs, the claws or the eyes. No, none of those things would have tipped you off."

"Forgive me," he said, his voice a little more sturdy now. "It's just, I didn't expect--"

"Whatever," she cut him off. "Let's get down to business. I assume since you were asking after me that means there is a job you wish to hire me for?"

"Yes," the first man replied. "A man arrived in the village yesterday, a man of high status."

"A noble from Stella, I take it?"

"Yes. I hope that isn't a problem for you?"

"The only person I owe allegiance to is myself. I don't care who I am hired to kill, as long as I am paid in full."

"That works then. The reason we want him gone is becau--"

"I don't care," she cut him off again.

"Wait, you don't care?" the second man asked. He has always thought assassins would want to know the reason they were to take someone out.

"Not at all. I don't care whether he stole your money, murdered your dog or raped your wife. It's all the same to me." Her voice was cold and uncaring. It was almost as if she was incapable of feeling sympathy. The thought of that sent shivers up both men's spines.

"Now that the 'who' is out of the way, let us discuss a price."

xxx

Unknown to the two men inside the room, a fourth person was listening in to their conversation. A young brown-haired fox +anima sat outside on the roof just above the window. It was her job to make sure they didn't try to pull any fast ones on her master. Not that they would be able to get away with it anyways. Her master was one of the best in the business.

Inside they were still discussing a price. The men weren't very wealthy and her master drives a hard bargain. She would wring them for all they were worth. They weren't in this business for money though. Actually, she wasn't quite sure why they did this. It was her master's choice. It didn't matter to her though. She owed her master her allegiance. Besides, it was rather fun.

Her large ears and whiskers twitched as she heard her master silently exit the room below. Using her superior speed gained from her transformed legs, the second member of the Claws of Night made her way across the roof to the window where she had first entered.

When the elder of the duo emerged from the inn she removed her mask showing her fangs, exposed in a look of pure annoyance. "Those fools," she spat. "Thinking they can buy my services for such a low price. It's insulting. They're lucky I didn't kill them as well." She scratched at one of her ears with her claws as her tail whipped back and forth in agitation.

The other girl removed her mask as well. "So we aren't taking the job?"

"Weren't you listening? Yes, we're taking the job; I just had to wring them for a little more money first."

"Sorry," she apologized rather pathetically. "Oh, do you want me to go scout out the targets house tonight?" she asked.

"Do what you will. Those idiots exhausted me with their stupidity. I'm going to bed."

"Alright." The young girl turned to leave but was stopped by her master's voice.

"Oh, and Mehri?"

Mehri turned around to face her master, standing in the middle of the street half turned towards her and looking back at her over her shoulder, her braided hair moving slightly with the wind. She had a small smirk on her face.

"Don't screw it up."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've been more or less jumping from one thing to another but I've finally got some semblence of order going so I hope things will be a bit more regular...emphasis on the hope part of course.

_Chapter Five_

Morning light filtered through the window and tickled Mehri's nose. She groaned and flipped over in her bed rather violently while pulling her blanket over her head.

"Wake up, lazy bum," Kiyrely told her.

"Ten more minutes," she mumbled from beneath the blankets.

"Sheesh, what were you doing last night?" she asked. "You must have stayed up late if you're still tired."

"None of your business," she mumbled again.

Kiyrely sighed, somewhat frustrated now. "While you're in my care it is my business and if you're tired because you were up too late then it's your own damn fault. Now get up, before the others get here."

With an exaggerated sigh, Mehri finally sat up.

"Don't stay out that late again if you're gonna be this grouchy in the morning." Kiyrely was standing in front of a mirror tying up the shorter part of her hair.

"Yes, mother," Mehri saluted.

"Good."

Just then, a knock came at the door. "Hey!" Cooro called from the other side. "You guys up yet?"

"If we weren't before, we are now," Mehri grumbled.

"Come on in!" Kiyrely called back. Cooro opened the door and entered, cheery as always, followed by a grinning Nana, a sullen Husky, and a somewhat out of it Senri. Kiyrely grinned at them. "Hey, guys," she greeted. "What's up?"

"We're working while we're staying here to get some money," Nana explained. "But we have some time before we start so we decided to check up on you two."

"Check up on us?" Kiyrely asked.

"Yeah," Cooro said. "We hadn't heard if you two managed to get jobs yet so we came to check. And to say hi."

"Morning," Mehri mumbled, still groggy from sleep.

"What's wrong with her?" Husky asked.

"Lack of sleep I think," Kiyrely replied off handedly.

"So, did you two get jobs?" Cooro asked.

"No need," Kiyrely replied happily. She pulled a pouch out from her belt and bounced it in her hand. The sound of coins clinking together could be heard. It sounded like a lot of coins. "We're all set."

"Where'd you get all that money?" Nana asked incredulously.

"I managed to scrounge it up before I met up with you guys."

"Some of it is mine as well," Mehri interjected.

"Well, what are you going to do then?" Cooro asked.

"I'm gonna look around town. I only got here the other day and I haven't had a chance to take in the sights yet," Mehri said happily.

"What about you, Kiyrely?" Nana asked.

"I'm going to…" She looked out the window at the growing crowds. She unconsciously started to fidget. She began to play with the straps of one of the pouches attached to her belt. Senri noticed but didn't say anything. He began to wonder if maybe there was something wrong. "I think I'm going to go check the shops on the outskirts of town." That answer seemed to satisfy everyone so they decided when and where to meet up later and went their separate ways.

"Hey, Kiy," Mehri asked just before she left. Kiyrely looked over at her. "I've noticed this every time we go to a town that you seem to get really nervous and edgy." She looked over at Kiyrely who had gone completely still and looked away. "I've never said anything before now," she continued nervously, "but, why don't you like towns?"

"It's none of your business," Kiyrely replied softly before walking away, leaving Mehri staring after her.

xXx

With her hands behind her head Kiyrely walked around in the outskirts of town window shopping. She didn't expect to find anything here that really interested her but it gave her something to do. Besides, there were no crowds here.

A sparkle in a window she noticed out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned and noticed that the shop was selling some beads. Her hand strayed to the beads she wore in her hair and around her neck. She had a thing for beads.

Shrugging, she entered the store. No harm in looking. After a quick look over the merchandise she noticed several glass beads that really caught her eye. One was dark purple with flecks of green; a second was deep red while a third was the colour of a clear morning sky. She bought several of each along with some string. It was about time she made herself a new piece of jewelry, though when she looked down at the things in her hand she couldn't help but feel that something was missing. _"Oh well."_

Kiyrely left the store deep in thought which, in hindsight, probably wasn't the best idea, seeing as how she immediately collided with a man who had just turned a corner into her path. She grunted in shock more than pain as she landed on her backside. The man however was caught by one of his many body guards.

"Hey!" one of the men shouted as she stood up. "Watch where you're going, you bitch!"

"I'm sorry," Kiyrely apologized. "I wasn't paying att—"

"Do you know who this is? This is Lord Rallad of Stella!" The guard who was shouting at her took a step forward and pulled back his fist. "You better learn some manners!" Kiyrely tensed her body in preparation to take the punch.

"Enough." The guard stopped and looked over to Lord Rallad who took a few steps forwards. His voice was calm but firm "Now is that any way to treat a lady?"

"But sir, she—"

"Is a young woman who accidentally bumped into us, nothing more." He then turned to Kiyrely. He was quite tall with short brown hair that was beginning to gray. He wore the expensive clothes of a noble and had an air of authority about him. "I do hope you'll forgive my guard's deplorable manners. He is only doing his job, you see." Kiyrely nodded. "You are not hurt, are you?" He took her hand in his own and kissed it lightly.

She shuddered at his touch. "No, I'm fine."

"That gladdens me," he sighed. He smiled at her kindly and pulled her a little closer. "I've just had a fantastic idea. To make up for this incident, how about you join me at my lodging for dinner this evening?" She felt his thumb begin to caress the back of her hand.

Gently she removed her hand from his grip. "I would love to take you up on that offer," she replied, "but I must tend to my siblings this evening."

"How unfortunate," he said. "Perhaps another evening then."

"Perhaps," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way." Kiyrely turned and began to walk at a brisk pace back to the Inn. _"What a disgusting man,_" she thought._ "If I never saw that freak again it would be too soon."_

When Kiyrely finally reached the restaurant attached to the Inn everyone was already there. Mehri was the first one to notice her. "Hey, Kiy!" she called. "What took you so long?"

"I ran into someone," she said as she sat down. "Quite literally."

Cooro gasped. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt? Was the person mean? Did they—"

"Calm down Cooro," Kiyrely giggled. "I'm fine."

"Oh, okay!" He quickly returned to eating the meal in front of him.

"So, how'd work go for you guys today?" Kiyrely asked after placing the order for her own food.

"It was great," Nana said happily. "We all managed to get jobs at the same place. It's a store run by some very nice people. What did you do all day Mehri?" she asked, turning to the other girl.

"Just some sight-seeing," she replied. "For a small village it's certainly got a lot of interesting places."

Nana nodded. "Yeah, I saw several nice shops already." She glanced over at Husky and giggled. "Apparently Husky did too." The others looked over at the boy who was currently admiring the jewels he had just bought. He finally noticed the others looking at him and suppressing laughter.

"What? You got a problem?" he demanded.

"Of course not," Nana replied. "What guy wouldn't want a new pair of pearl earrings?" Husky glowered at her.

"What about you Kiyrely? What did you do today?" Cooro asked.

She fished her new beads out of a pouch. "Just some shopping she said. There wasn't much but I did manage to find some nice beads." She held them out in her hand to show the others. Oddly enough, Senri seemed to be the most interested.

"Those are really pretty Kiy!" Mehri exclaimed. "Are you going to make a new necklace?"

"A bracelet actually," she replied. Placing some money on the table she stood and stretched.

The others followed suit. "We're gonna head out for a bit," Mehri said. "You want to join us?"

"No, I think I'm going to head to bed," she said while stifling a yawn. "I'm feeling rather tired for some reason."

"Well, we'll see you later then," Nana said as they turned to leave.

"Have fun." Kiyrely turned and headed back for her room.

xXx

Silence reigned as night fell across the land. The villagers had all retired to bed for the evening and doused their lights. Even the Inn Keepers had all turned in for the night. The only light by which to see was that of the moon. Nothing stirred in the streets below or in the sky above. There was barely even a breeze. Here, the world was at peace.

It was the perfect night for an assassination.

The two assassins know as the Claws of Night darted from roof top to roof top on the way to the lodging of their target, Lord Rallad of Stella. Mehri led the way as her master followed her. She had checked out the house the other night. There hadn't been anything to really worry about. It was patrolled by minimal guards who all seemed bored with their jobs and it was open enough for them to be able to enter without being seen easily.

Stopping on the roof of a building a few houses down, they crouched in the shadows and went over their plan one last time. "You sure you don't want me to go in there with you, Master?" Mehri asked.

"I'm sure," she replied. "This will be simple enough. I don't imagine he'll have security in there with him and he shall be dead before he can call any to help." Master paused. "I think I'll have you stay right here. You shall look out for trouble."

"Yes, Master," Mehri replied as she dashed off towards the mansion. This was going to be so simple it was hardly worth all the money she had wrung from the two men. Of course, that didn't mean she was inclined to return it. They deserved to be ripped off for their stupidity.

A low wall encircled the lodging and she crouched in its shadow, waiting for her chance to sneak by the guards. She didn't have to wait long as there were barely any guards anyways. As soon as it was clear she vaulted over the wall and to the side of the house, which she quickly scaled using her claws to grip the wood. When she reached the roof she quickly lay on her belly in the shadows, keeping herself from view.

She waited a moment to make sure no one saw her and to let the next guard to pass out of sight. When her waiting was done she crawled along the roof to the edge just above the balcony outside the Lords room. She jumped off the roof and landed on silent paws before moving quickly to the door.

Reaching for her lock-picking tools, she paused. This man was so comfortable in his safety and stability that he probably hadn't even bothered to lock the door. She reached out one clawed hand and tested the door. Not surprisingly, it was unlocked. She rolled her eyes as she entered through the now open doorway. This was far too easy. There was no challenge in this.

What met her eyes when she stepped into the room was exactly what she had expected. It was lavishly furnished with expensive trinkets everywhere; tokens of his wealth.

When she glanced at the bed though, she saw something she had not expected. A young girl no more than fifteen lay curled up in the bed beside the old man. She was covered by little more than a thin sheet but of what she could see of her, she was naked.

The assassin had to fight down a fit of rage as she looked at the sight before her. Normally, could keep her emotions in check during an assassination but this was pushing. Taking a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down before she acted rashly. _"On the job, you have no emotion,"_ she reminded herself. _"You are but a killer, a specter, a vessel of death."_

Opening her lupine eyes she stepped forwards to the bedside and stood over Lord Rallad. She glanced over at the girl and noticed how pale she was except for a slight flush on her face. By the looks of her, she had been drugged. All that meant to her was that she would not wake up when she killed the man beside her.

She reached down to her belt and withdrew a silver knife. Placing the tip of the blade at the hollow of his collar bone she gripped the handle in one hand and placed the other at the butt of the knife. Mustering her strength, she drew back her hand then drove the knife deep into his neck.

Rallad's eyes flew open and he began to flail weakly. He brought a hand to his throat to try to remove the knife but the assassin had already done so. Now she raked her claws down his chest in her classic calling sign. He would have screamed but for his severed wind pipe. He was dead in seconds. The girl at his side moved slightly but remained in her deep, drug induced slumber.

"A gift from the night," she whispered before dashing out the balcony door, leaving the girl sleeping in the blood soaked bed.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N:_ Well this chapter certainly was a bitch to write. I got about a quarter of the way through and decided to change it and when I did I didn't know how I wanted to proceed after that and then decided to do something that would change the rest of the story but eventually took half of that decision back and…yeah, confusing. But you're not very interested in that are you. Well, enjoy chapter six. Review please!

_Chapter Six_

By the time the morning sun had breached the fog that had rolled in during the night, news of Lord Rallad of Stella's assassination had already spread through the town. In defense of the authorities attempting to keep this under wraps, it was a rather small town. It was obviously the work of the infamous assassin the Claws of Night; her calling sign – claw marks raked down the chest of the victim – was found on him. While the guards protecting Lord Rallad knew he was a high profile target, they had figured that, in a small town like this, the chances of assassination were low. Besides, they had told no one of the route they would be talking to get to their destination. It would seem that they had assumed wrong.

Cooro, Nana, Husky and Senri met up with Mehri and Kiyrely in the restaurant. The six of them had yet to hear about the previous evening's events so they were surprised to see how agitated the people sitting down to their meals were. The fact that so few were there only served to strengthen the feeling that something was wrong.

"Is it just me or are you guys getting a bad vibe?" Kiyrely asked.

They all nodded. "Something has obviously happened," Husky said, his face serious.

Cooro looked around at the people gathered in the restaurant. They had grown silent as the six friends entered and now looked at them suspiciously. Nana suppressed a shiver. "Why are they looking at us like that?" she asked.

"Dunno," Kiyrely replied. Something was definitely wrong. When they sat down, a waiter bearing the same demeanor as the rest of those gathered came over to take their order.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly. They hesitated a moment before placing their orders. He left without another word back to the kitchen behind the counter where a bartender was cleaning some glasses.

"I'll be right back," Kiyrely stated while she stood up. She walked up to the bartender, the only person who seemed relatively calm. She could feel eyes on her as she moved across the room. "Excuse me?" she asked politely.

The bartender looked up at her then looked back to the glass he was cleaning. "Can I help you with something ma'am?" he asked, also being polite.

"Pardon me for asking," she said, trying to sound as unthreatening as possible, not that it was that hard. "I was just wondering if something has happened." When the bartender looked up at her, surprise plastered across his face, she elaborated quickly. "It's just that we – my friends and I – are not from around here. We don't know anyone here so we don't have anyone to tell us what is going on. As well we have just left our rooms and haven't heard anything yet."

Suddenly the bartender's expression turned angry. "Mind your own business, outsider," he spat. Kiyrely was quite taken aback by the man's reaction to a simple question. She was about to bring that point up when a man sitting at a stool next to where she stood spoke up.

"You haven't heard?" he asked.

"No, I haven't," she replied, turning towards the new man, ignoring the rather annoying bartender.

"Looks like the news hasn't traveled as fast as I thought," he said, more to himself then the Kiyrely.

"Would you like to come back to our table?" she asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. "My friends may want to hear it as well."

He glanced over at the table where the other five waited, watching Kiyrely. "Sure," he said, turning back to her with a smirk. Kiyrely couldn't help but notice as they walked to her table that he was mildly attractive. His chestnut brown hair was pushed back out of his face and held there with a red bandana, keeping it out of his intense green eyes. He was tall and lean with the physique of a soldier and appeared to be a few years older then her. Obviously he was a traveler, apparent by this choice in clothing; a long black traveling coat over a plain red shirt and somewhat worn pale brown pants. He also wore fingerless gloves and several belts. When they sat down at the table, she saw Mehri noticing as well.

"Who is this?" Husky questioned Kiyrely. He didn't take well to strangers.

"This is," Kiyrely started, and then realized she had never asked for his name. She turned to him with and inquiring glance.

"The name's Ryke," he clarified. "I'm a traveler but I've been stuck in this town for about three months now." He sighed as he said that. It was obvious he was ready for the open road again.

"You know what has happened?" Husky demanded, cutting off whatever else Ryke was going to say.

Suddenly he became serious. "Have you heard about the Stellan noble who was passing through here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kiyrely replied. "I passed him in the streets yesterday," she lied. "Lord Rallad, was it?" Husky looked like he wanted to say something but he kept his mouth shut.

"That's the one," Ryke nodded. "He was just supposed to be passing through here on his way to Astaria. It was for some good will talk or something," he said with a shrug.

"And your point is?" Husky asked, sounding irritated.

"Well, you're an uptight one," Ryke commented with a smirk. Husky's eyes flashed with anger but he didn't let Ryke bait him. "My point is," he continued, "that he was assassinated last night."

Everyone was shocked by this news. Nana tried to muffle a gasp and Cooro clenched his fists. Senri suddenly seemed on edge while Kiyrely shuddered. Mehri didn't seem as shocked as the others, though she tried to appear it.

"What?!" Husky blurted, attempting to keep his voice from rising. "What do you mean he was assassinated?"

"I mean he was killed in his bed last night," he reiterated. "They believe it was the work of the infamous assassin the Claws of Night."

"I've heard of her," Nana piped up. Her voice was a bit shaky but it held. "Supposedly she'll kill anyone for the right price. I've also heard that she's a wolf +anima."

"How do you know it's a girl?" Cooro asked.

"Some one supposedly caught a glimpse of her once. They said they saw a female wolf +anima clothed completely in black. That's the best they could do."

Ryke sat silently and listened to the others discus the assassin he knew had been in the town last night. He was unsure whether or not she was still here, but he was working on narrowing down the suspect list.

"You guys sure seem to know a lot," he commented. If one of the five people sitting at this table was the assassin, male or female, hopefully he'd be able to draw them out.

"We've been traveling a bunch recently," Cooro chimed. No matter what was being said he always managed to sound chipper. "We've heard a lot of rumours."

"I see," he said, then fell silent again.

"I've heard she's the best in the business," Kiyrely said.

"I've heard that too, though no one can really say when she reached the top." Husky had calmed down and was more rational now.

"But why was she in such a small town?" Nana asked.

"Maybe she was hired to kill that Rallad guy before he came here?" Cooro suggested.

"Perhaps," Ryke cut in. "It's getting stuffy in here," he said, referring more to the many heated stares they were receiving from nearby people then the air. "Why don't we go outside?" By this time, their food had come and had been finished. The five friends agreed to Ryke's suggestion and laid some money on the table before leaving.

When they exited the restaurant they noticed a small group of soldiers standing around looking annoyed. One of them saw their group leave the restaurant and pointed them out to the rest of the men. "Hey!" he called, storming towards them. "Ryke! Where the hell you been?"

"Damn," Ryke snickered as the others looked at him in surprise. "Looks like I've been found."

"We've been looking for you," the soldier said as he walked up to them. He still seemed to be simmering.

"Well, you found me. What do you want soldier?"

"You were supposed to report in before going off to question people."

"I thought you were in _my_ command," Ryke said dryly, "not the other way around.

"You're in the military?!" Kiyrely voice had risen several octaves.

"Yeah," he said, turning back to them. He wore a lopsided grin and was scratching the back of his head. "Sorry I didn't mention it," he apologized. "I was just trying to narrow down the suspect list."

"Oh, so now we're suspects?" Kiyrely was now very agitated. Her opinion of Ryke had completely changed.

"You seem rather annoyed all of a sudden." Ryke now looked genuinely confused.

"I have a strong dislike of the military," she grumbled before turning away from them.

"Well, sir?" the soldier cut in. "Are they suspects?"

"Nah, they're fine," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "They can either stay here or leave. They are free to do as they wish."

"Very well sir." The soldier saluted then returned to the rest of the men. After a quick word, they moved off.

"You don't act like any Sailand soldier I have ever met," Husky observed skeptically.

"That's because I'm not from Sailand," he said with another smirk.

"You're not?" Cooro seemed amazed by this.

"Nope. I'm from Astaria. We're doing a new exchange thing between our two armies and I got chosen to come over to Sailand for a while."

"Sounds complicated," Mehri said quietly. She had been silent almost the entire time. This was the first she had spoken since Ryke joined them.

"Not really," he shrugged. He was a very nonchalant kind of person. "Well, I should probably get going before they send someone else to get me." The six of them were unsure whether to thank him for his information or to be upset for considering them as suspects, so they just stayed quiet. "Later!" he called over his shoulder as he walked away, waving to them.

Mehri watched him go, a slight pink flush on her cheeks. Kiyrely leaned over and spoke into her ear. "He's too old for you." Mehri whipped her gaze away from Ryke and turned away from Kiyrely, a full blush now warming her face. Kiyrely chuckled while all six of them moved off.

They had decided that morning before they entered the restaurant that they would be leaving after breakfast. The previous evening's events just made the idea all the more appealing. They had already bought everything they needed and were heading to the edge of town now.

Just before the edge of town was in sight they passed a shop that Mehri and Nana couldn't help but stop and check out; a clothing store. The two young girls went in while the rest of the group stayed outside. None of them were quite as interested in clothing. Kiyrely leaned against a wall and Cooro walked up beside her.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"What?" Kiyrely asked, looking over at him. What did he mean by that? She had been feeling fine the whole time.

"You've been tense the whole time we've been in town," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now that we're about to leave, you seem a lot more relaxed."

Kiyrely stared at him for a moment before turning away. "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled. Cooro shrugged and went to go look at some flowers growing near the base of the wall a little ways away, leaving Kiyrely with her thoughts.

It was true she didn't like towns that much but she didn't think that it was that bad or that her reaction was so obvious. Or perhaps it wasn't and the young crow +anima was more intuitive then she thought.

After a moment Senri walked up to her with his hand outstretched, clasped like he was holding something. Kiyrely looked at him, confused, for a moment before stretching out her own hand. Opening his hand, he dropped a small wooden feather into her palm. She brought it closer to her face and stared at it in wonder for a moment. It was obviously hand carved, every intricate detail etched with a small knife. It had a small hole at the top, just big enough to fit a piece of string through; it was perfect for her bracelet.

"You seem lonely," Senri said, drawing her attention back to him. His words shocked her and made her heart skip a beat. Before she could say anything to him though, Nana and Mehri rushed out of the store in a flurry of clothing. They quickly ushered the four of them inside and made them change into the new clothes they had just bought.

"There you go again, spending all of our money!" Husky fumed. Nana had a habit of spending all their money on new clothes.

"I haven't gotten any new clothing in a long time," she argued. "I had every right to indulge a little." Husky bit back his retort and just sighed.

"Alright, let's go!" Mehri chimed. She was certainly in a good mood. The six of them set off again, four of them hoping they wouldn't have to stop for another shopping spree or anything else. Of course, it just wasn't meant to be.

At the edge of town, a familiar brown haired figure clad in a black traveling coat stood with his hands behind his head, seemingly waiting for something.

"Oh, no," Kiyrely groaned. She had the sinking suspicion he was waiting for them.

When he saw them, his face split into a large grin, confirming Kiyrely's fears. "I thought you'd come this way."

"You were waiting for us?" Cooro asked.

"Yep. I got tired of being here so I've decided to head back to Astaria. You guys are heading that way too right?"

"How did you know that?" Husky demanded.

Ryke smirked confidently. "I didn't. You just told me."

"What do you want?" Kiyrely asked through gritted teeth.

"Well since we're traveling in the same direction I thought we might be able to travel together."

_Well you thought wrong,_ Kiyrely thought. She was about to voice her opinion when Cooro cut in.

"Sure!"

"What?!" Kiyrely barked.

"You don't want me too?" Ryke's face fell and he looked sad and confused.

"No, I don't," she stated. "I don't like soldiers."

"I say it's a good idea," Husky agreed with Cooro. "He _is_ a soldier after all and we'll be traveling through some tough spots."

"Not you too, Husky," Kiyrely groaned. The only person who didn't seem to want Ryke there was Kiyrely. She glanced over at Senri and took that back. He seemed on edge around the newcomer as well. Kiyrely sighed and closed her eyes. She guessed it didn't matter what the two of them thought; Ryke was coming with them.


End file.
